The following is a quote from today's Ross Douthat's column in the NY Times. While lamenting the lack of real debate on the main talking stations, Douthat essentially equates the programming decisions of Sean Hannity and Rachel Maddow. It is sadly absurd on it's face.

"For all the red-faced shouting, debate isn’t really what you get on Fox and MSNBC. Hannity has ditched Colmes, and conservatives are only invited on Rachel Maddow’s show when they have something nasty to say about Republicans" he writes.

It is the kind of critique made by someone who clearly has very little first hand knowledge of the subject of his critique. One wonders if he's ever actually watched Maddow or Hannity. It's too bad. I often like what Douthat has to say.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Upon seeing Sen. Blanche Lincoln's (D-AR) desperation attack against progressive challenger Bill Halter, my first reaction was amazement. So unbelievably beneath any standards of decency was her broadside, that I had to resist blurting out a few choice expletives at my desk. The first word that came to mind starts with a "C". I took a deep breath and chided myself for considering so sexist a term. Then, it occurred to me that the best description of her crassly dishonest smear was indeed gender based.